Rail-joint truss



(No Model.) I i J. MOEW'BNV RAIL JOINT TRUSS. 4 N0. 335.29. PatentedFeb. 2, 1886.

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UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIcE.

JOHN MOEVVEN, OF LAXVRENOE, KANSAS.

RAIL-JOINT TRUSS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 335,292, dated February2, 18 :6.

Application filed June 10, 1885. Serial No. 168,279. (No modell To allwhom/ it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOH MoEwEN, of Lawrence, in the county of Douglasand State of Kansas, have invented a new and Improved RaiLJoint Truss,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to railway-rail joints; and it has for its objectto prevent settling of the end of one rail below the other at railjointsbetween the ties, and obviate hammering of the car-wheels at thesejoints, and also to promote the durability of the rails and theirordinary'fish-plate and bolt fastenings.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of partsforming a rail-joint truss, hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a side elevation of the joined ends of two railway-rails,with the joint-truss partly broken away and the rail-ties incrosssection. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional elevation takenon the line a:m, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a top perspective view of the baseplate of thetruss,

- and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the truss-bars.

. the fish-plates C and bolts D in the usual man-.

The letters A B indicate the meetingends of two railway-rails, which areconnected by ner; and E E indicate adjacent ties, to which the rails arefastened in any approved way.

The rail-joint shown at a comes between the ties E E, and it is tostrengthen these joints and prevent the settling or springing of theends of the rails and racking or strain ing of the fish-plate and boltconnections that my truss is employed. The truss comprises a base plateor bar, F, to which at one side and center is fixed or held the block G,and a pair of opposite truss-bars, H H, each of which inclines or isbent edgcwiseand upward opposite ways from a central point or angle, h,and which bars fit at these angles into side notches or recesses, g, atthe lower end of block G. The ends of the truss bars are bent upward ashort distance, as at h, and thence inward at h to fit over thebase-flange of the rail at one side, and thence upward at If to lieagainst the web of the rail, and bolts I are passed through holes 2' inthe ends of the opposite truss-bars H and through holesb in the rails AB, to bind the truss to the rails across the joint a between them, as inFig. 1.

\Vhen the truss is bolted to place, the angles h of the bars H fit theangular notches g of block G, and the short bends h of the bars enterthe end notchesf, in the base-plate F, to effectually prevent shiftingof the base-plate, and as the block G comes directly beneath and acrossthe joint a the truss will effectually support the rail-joint undercontinuous and heavy traffic over the road, and at the same time willpromote the durability of the rails and the security of the ordinaryfish-plate and bolt-e "fastenings of the rails to each other.

The holes 6 in the webs of the rails, through which the truss-fasteningbolts I pass, are elongated lengthwise of the rails, to permit freeexpansion and contraction of the rails without strains on the truss.

The block G preferably is made fast to the base-plate F of the truss;but the block may be separate from said plate, and be held to placebeneath the rail-joint a by the side truss-bars, H H, when the truss isapplied to the rails, as will readily be understood.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is- 7 1 .v The combination, with the joinedends of railway-rails, of a truss applied beneath the rails across thejoint, said truss consisting of a base-plate, F, a block, G, andopposite truss-bars H H, secured to the rails by bolts I, substantiallyas herein set forth.

2. A rail-joint truss comprising a base 'plate, F, having notches f, ablock, G, having notches g, and opposite. truss bars H H, fitting thenotches g f,"and bolted at II through their upturned inwardly-bent endsto the joined rails, substantially as herein set forth.

JOHN MOEVVEN.

Witnesses:

DANIEL S. ALFORD, JOSEPH R. TURNER.

